


Me Without Science

by LostCybertronian



Category: Welcome to Night Vale, wtnv
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, proposal fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23665525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostCybertronian/pseuds/LostCybertronian
Summary: Carlos proposes to Cecil during a radio station crisis.
Relationships: Cecil Palmer/Carlos the Scientist, Cecilos
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	Me Without Science

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt I got on Tumblr. I heard somewhere that it was Carlos who proposed to Cecil, and ever since I've been wondering what that moment was like.

“Maybe we should ask him what’s wrong.”  
The lab sitting in the strip mall next to Big Rico’s Pizza was usually a buzz of activity; scientists went in and out, often carrying some manner of complicated machine or experiment. Sometimes that machine or experiment was alive, sometimes it wasn’t, but it was always scientific and always under the careful eye of Carlos the scientist.  
As of now-- 3:34PM Night Vale Standard Time (NVST)-- not a whole lot of science was getting done, and the tension could be cut with a metaphorical knife. Even Lusia-- usually immune to even the worst of what tension had to offer-- was ignoring her potatoes instead of loudly insulting them, as her newest experiment demanded.   
“And by ‘we,’ I mean you, Nils,” the scientist continued casually, casting a pointed glance at Nilanjana as she did.  
Nilanjana shrugged. Her petri dish full of bacteria was being stubborn today, and she had spent the last hour and a half trying to out-stubborn it. “His door is locked. He probably doesn’t want us bugging him.”  
“Since when has that stopped you?” Mark chimed in from behind her, and with a sigh Nilanjana got up, proving his point.  
“Carlos?” She rapped her knuckles against the door, then waited. When Carlos did not respond, she glanced back at the others, holding her hands up in a gesture of _what now?_ before turning back to the door when Lusia motioned her to try again. “Are you alright?  
“Please open the door, Carlos,” she said, knocking again. “We’re worried about you.”  
There was a long moment when, again, there was only silence. Where Nilanjana was convinced that Carlos wasn’t going to come out, or answer at all.  
But, after that long moment-- which felt a lot longer than it actually was, but that might’ve just been because time was weird in Night Vale-- he did, unlocking the door and poking his head out.  
“I’m fine, Nils.” He didn’t look fine; he looked worried. Strung-out. Even his perfect hair was looking less perfect than usual, a by-product of his anxiety. He flinched when, from somewhere in his lab, there came a crackling swear and a girl’s high-pitched whimper.  
“What’s going on?” Nilanjana stood on her tip-toes in an attempt to peer around him, but unfortunately, another thing perfect about Carlos was his height.  
“It’s Cecil.” Carlos retreated from the doorway, and Nilanjana followed as he seemed to fall back into pacing a hole in his floor. “And Janice. Cecil had Janice in for an interview about her basketball team, and he forgot that it’s contract renewal season with Station Management.  
“I swear, he forgets that the radio station is dangerous,” he muttered, before Nilanjana could say anything. He pulled a small, velvet-covered black box from his lab-coat pocket, flipping open and closed the top in a rapid synchrony of soft taps.   
“What is that for?” Nilanjana wondered, eyeing the box. She had never seen such a tiny experiment before, and thought that maybe if she asked about it, she could keep Carlos sane for a few more minutes. “Is it scientific?”  
“Oh. This?” Carlos waggled the box. “Totally scientific. Totally.”  
“Oh. Cool.”  
All they could hear from the radio now was the weather report, a fast-paced, frantic song that sounded just as Carlos felt. He shoved down the overwhelming urge to call the station, but that didn’t stop his phone from appearing in his hand regardless.  
His heart leapt into his throat when it buzzed, a text from Cecil filling the screen: _made it out of station. Can you watch Janice?_  
“They made it,” Carlos murmured. “He wants me to watch Janice.” He glanced up, thumbs already moving across the keyboard, typing out a reply. “Would you guys mind if Janice hangs out here until Abby gets out of work?”  
Nilanjana brightened. “Sure!” She said. “I think Lusia has been wanting to show off her potatoes.”  
She had never seen Carlos look so relieved. He dashed off another reply, his shoulders slumping. “Thanks.”  
The scientist shrugged. “No problem. Janice is nice. Cecil is nice. Do you want me . . .” she paused. “Do you want some alone time?”  
“I would like that, I think.” Carlos raked a hand through his hair. His eyes held the tiniest bit of warmth and his lips the smallest of smiles as he looked at her, though they were mostly obscured by worry. “Thanks, Nils.”  
\---  
Carlos was out of the lab before Cecil had even pulled into the parking lot, his lab-coat fluttering at his heels as he all but ran to the car.  
“I was so worried,” he said, when the engine cut and Cecil got out. “Is Janice okay?”  
“I’m okay,” Janice said from the passenger’s seat, her voice small. Her face was pale, but still she managed a smile. “Uncle Cecil and Intern Geoff distracted Station Management so I could get to the elevator.”  
“She was very brave,” Cecil added. He was pale too, and clearly shaken. He gave Carlos a quick kiss before stepping away to retrieve Janice’s wheelchair from the backseat. “I have to get back to the station before they realize I’m gone,” he mumbled, half to himself, once Janice was settled into the chair.   
“Go back to the station, Uncle Cecil.” Janice wheeled herself forward, heading for the lab ramp. “I’ll text you when Mom comes to get me.”  
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Cecil asked, and Carlos suspected that it was his hand on Cecil’s arm that kept him from going, scooping her up, and putting her back in the car where he was sure she would be safe; he was having the same thought himself.   
“Yeah,” came her answer, “thank you for the interview, Uncle Cecil. I had fun.”  
Cecil sighed. “Alright. I love you.”  
She cast him another smile and a wave, and then was gone, disappeared inside the lab where Carlos was certain Lusia would be upon her, urging her to insult her potatoes.  
“I should go,” Cecil said, resigned. “The weather report won’t last forever. It’s quite nice out today.”  
“It is,” Carlos agreed, “but don’t go yet. I wanted to tell you . . .”  
Cecil turned to him, questions rising behind his beautiful, kaleidoscope eyes. But before he could voice any of them, Carlos forged on, “things like these, where you’re in danger at the station- they . . . they make me realize that I can’t imagine my life without you in it anymore. Me without you is like- is like me without _science._ I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”  
“Carlos, what are you saying?”  
“I’m saying . . .” Carlos pulled the box from his pocket, sinking down to one knee like he’d seen people in movies do, flipping the box open as he did to reveal a shining silver band. “I’m saying you should marry me, Cecil. Because I want to marry you, and-”  
“Yes!” Carlos didn’t think he’d ever seen Cecil cry, but he was crying now, slow tears trickling down his face as he stared not at the ring but at _Carlos_ as if he was the entire world. “Yes. I will marry you. I’d be _so happy_ to marry you.”  
Carlos rose, smiling even as he began to cry, too. He took Cecil’s hand, kissing the back of his hand before sliding the band onto his ring finger.  
“I- I have to get back to the station.” Cecil’s voice wasn’t higher than a whisper. “The weather report is almost done.”  
“Go,” Carlos told him. “We’ll talk more tonight.”  
“Okay.” Cecil kissed him, and for a second Carlos’s whole universe was that kiss. “I’d like that.”  
It was reluctance with which he broke the kiss, but it was with something close to giddy joy that the Voice of Night Vale got back into his car, feeling, for once, that he was ready to face the wrath of Station Management as he started the car and drove away from the lab.


End file.
